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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1471824
his first-ever GNCC overall win. "I've come up short so many times before," said Ashburn. Indeed, the Magna1 Motors- ports/Husqvarna rider has been so close many times, even losing one race last year in the final three turns. But this day, Ashburn was in his element and got the job done. Ashburn was comfortable in the technical and slippery rocks of Snowshoe Mountain Resort, which had been made even more treacherous from off-and-on rain all weekend, and his consistency and determination paid off. "It's been a long time com- ing," said Ashburn. "This is my 10th year in XC1. We really put it together this year and just been clicking off podiums. We've been close so many times. It just feels so good to get it, especially at this venue. Conditions were unreal and really technical and slick, and I knew if I rode the way I could, I could be in the front of the pack and that's what we did today." With the win, Ashburn passed Ben Kelley for the series points lead in the overall championship heading into the summer break. "It's so unfortunate for Ben to get hurt like he did earlier in the year," said Ashburn. "But we knew what we could do. These last four races we just knew we needed to be on the podium. Coming in to- day, I needed a first or a second to take the points lead going into the rest of the season. It feels so good to get the win and do that." Ricky Russell had the lead go- ing into the sixth and final lap of the race and looked to have the win locked up, but he crashed and then came together with Ashburn on the infamous Power Point Hill. It was Ashburn who got away first, allowing the Ten- nessee rider to take the win. Russell had also led early in the race, holding the lead spot from lap one until the halfway mark on lap three when his team decided to do a rear tire change. He and FMF/KTM's Josh Toth were one of the few riders to select soft "gummy" tires due to the conditions, and the Coastal Racing team made the call to change tires when they saw Russell's knobs were consider- ably worn, while Toth's team did not. The move allowed Toth to take the lead, which he held until lap five. The gamble didn't pay off, however, and Toth dropped off the pace when his rear tire deteriorated to the point that he had to ride back to the pits on a fire road to get a new tire just to finish the race. "I felt really strong on the bike and was leading but right about halfway into the race, I could feel my rear tire deteriorate really badly," said Toth. "It just hap- pened pretty quick and once I got to the muddy side of the mountain it was really hard to get back up the hill. I wasn't sure if I was even going to be able to make it back up to the pits." Toth ended up 15th overall and seventh in the XC1 class. Russell's pit stop may have cost him 30 extra seconds, but it ended up being the right deci- sion and allowed him to finish second overall. "We practiced changing rear wheels quite a bit before the race," said Russell. "We only lost 30 seconds, and on a track like this, that's easy to make up when you have good rubber. When I caught up to Toth, I knew he was struggling with some of the hills. So, that was huge." VOLUME 59 ISSUE 26 JUNE 28, 2022 P25 Jonathan Girroir returned from injury to win the XC2 250 Pro class.